Magnetic pencil clip



Dec. 20, 1960 J. cooK MAGNETIC PENCIL CLIP Filed Nov. 21 1957 Ill/ll INVENTOR. JACKSON COOK Attorney United e -P m o a v 2,964,812 i I n esmermcmcm r p, a Jackson cooamhhns r eqaa, Calif.

1350 WillisAva, "fllFNilj'S; Calif.)

mass. 21,1957, st No. 697,921

Patented Dec. 20, 1960 clip has curved members 11 and 12 at one end which snugly receive the body of pencil 13 in order to attach the clip to the pencil. Each member comprises spaced by'clips, the pencils could not be supported in-thehsual 'clip manner. In the presentinventi'on, an ordinary pencil: clip 'isutilized and the magnetxis positioned at the outer surface of. the leg of the. clip which is substantially parallel to the pencil. Both the magnet and the clip leg are embedded in a material, such as plastic, to provide a smooth body containing the magnet and a space is provided between the body and the pencil to permit the pencil to be clipped onto the clothing and other articles in the usual manner. If the plastic body hasm-agnetic particles distributed therein, the need for a single magnetic member carried by the clip leg is eliminated. Whilethe present invention is particularly adaptable to pencil clips,

7 the invention can be utilized to provide clip attachments for various articles ported.

It is therefore an object of the present inventionto provide a magnetic clip having a leg extending from the article to be supported and a magnetic material supported by the leg to provide for attachment of the article to a which are to be magnetically supsuitable surface. v Another object of the invention is to provide a clip and magnet combination in which the magnet is carried solely by a leg of the clip and both the leg and magnet are embedded in a molded body. 7

Another object'of the'present invention is to provide .a magnetic pencil clip having a member attached to the pencil and a leg extending from the attachment member for supporting magnetic material, the magnetic material being spaced from thepencil so that the pencil can be supported in the usualrclip manner or by magnetic attraction to a suitable surface. I

These and other objects of the invention not specifically set forth above will become apparent from the accompanying description and drawings in which:

Figure l is an elevational view, showing a magnetic clip of the present invention secured toa pencil;

Figure 2 is a vertical section partly in elevation, along line 2-2 of Figure 3 illustrating the construction of the clip and the manner in which the magnet supports the pencil;

' Figure 3 is a horizontal section along line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a vertical section along line 4--4 of Figure ;5 showing the molding cavities which receive the magnet ,and the leg of the clip;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the mold of Figure 4; and

Figure 6 is a sectional view of a modification in which the clip body is formed of plastic material having magnetic 1 particles embedded therein. i

. Referring to Figures 1-3, an embodiment of the :magnetic clip for supporting a pencil is illustrated. The

arms 14 and 15 attached to; a center member 16 and con nected by a cross arm 17. Aspace 18 is provided between the ends of the arms so'that thearms can be sprung outwardlyto receive the pencil. A clip leg 19-has a curved section 20 connecting with the center member 16 "and has a substantially straight leg section 21 connecting with the curved section. The leg section 21 is substantially; parallel t0':the pencil 13 and isspa'ced therefrom by the curved section 20. Clips of this structure and having a bead on the end of leg section 21 adjacent the body ofthe pencil are well known. Thebead of prior clips serves to engage any flat material such a clothing inserted into the space between leg section 21 and the pencil 13 in order to secure the pencil thereto.

A- permanent magnet 22. formed of any suitable material such as Alnickel, is located adjacent the outer surface of leg section 21 and is of somewhat greater length.

The magnet 22, leg section 21 and a portion of curved section 20 are embedded in a body 23-of non-magnetic material, such as a polyester plastic. However, the outer surface of the magnet 22 forms a portion of the outer surface 24 of the body 23 so that the magnet can be attracted to magnetic support plate 25. The inner surface 25' of body 23 is substantially parallel with the pencil 13 and is spaced therefrom to form a clip space 26 for receiving material which serves to support the pencil. It is therefore apparent that the magnetic clip can secure the pencil 13 to any support surface to which the magnet 22 is attracted or'can secure the pencil to the edge of material, such as clothing, in the conventional manner.

The plate 25 can be a small magnetic plate specially constructed for attachment to any conventional object such as a telephone, automobile dash, tool box, cupboard, etc. The attachment of the plate can be accomplished by clips, either integral or separate from .the plate, or by screws, adhesive, etc. Referring to the modification of Figure 6, the permanent magnet 22 is eliminated from the clip by utilizing a body 23 formed of a plastic material having magnetic particles 22 embedded therein, the

particles having the property of being attracted to sup-- port 25. While the metal clip is in the form of a pencil clip, it is understood that the present invention canbe incorporated in any support clip, one portion of which is attached to the supported article and another portion of which supports a permanent magnetic material.

A novel method is provided for the manufacture of the magnetic clip of Figures 1-3. Referring to Figures 4 and 5, mold 27 has a plurality of cavities 28 formed therein by a mill cutter or other suitable tool, each cavity having the shape of the body 23. The mold is preferably constructed of aluminum, plastic or some other nonmagnetic material to which the magnets 22 are not attracted, and a magnetic plate 29 is placed against the bottom surface 30 of the mold. In order to assemble the magnetic clips, the magnets 22 are first placed at the bot tom of cavities 28. The magnets are each attracted to plate 29 with a force sufiicient to hold each magnet in position against the resultant pull of the magnets located in adjacent cavities. Thereafter, a leg section 21 is positioned on the upper surface of each magnet and is held in position by the attraction of the magnet. The mold cavities are now filled with the non-magnetic material in order to form body 23. Since one surface of each magnet 22 lies in the bottom of a cavity, this surface is substantially free of plastic material and forms a part of outer surface 24 of the body 23. During hardening the plastic body 23 will shrink somewhat so that the magnetic clips can be easily removed from the mold 27. In order to form the magnetic clip of Figure 6, simple clasp means could be aeeasre carried by theupper surface of the mold 26 to hold leg cavities with magnetic plastic material.

By theopresent invention, a .;magnetic ,clip isproyided which cameither m qhani ll t ma e ,S PP tarticle. Also, the portion of the clip which attaches to thesupported article can be constructed for attachment to1a variety of different articles. Any suitable magnetic material can be utilized for the clip. It is understood that section 20 of. clip leg 19 can flex and that the width of space 26 can be adjusted to provide for the usual clip attachment to various thicknesses oi material. Various other modifications are contemplated .by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention ashereinafter defined by the appended claims.

. What is claimed is;

1. A magnetic clip for an article comprising metallic connecting means for attachment to said article, a flexible member extendingtrom said connecting means and having an elongated section substantially uniformly spaced from said article, a magnet means supported by said section adjacent to and extending along said section, and a nonmagnetic body for securing said magnet means to said section in fixed position and spaced from said article by the flexible member.

2. A magnetic clip as defined. in claim 1 wherein said section and said magnet are embedded in said non-magnetic body, the surface of said magnet farthest from said section forming a portion of a surface of said body.

3. A magnetic clip for an article comprising metallic connectingnians for attachment to said article, a flexible member cantilevered from said connecting means and having an elongated section spaced from said article, and permanent magnet means supported by said section in spaced relationship to said article for attaching said article to a support, said magnet; meaps comprising a magnet adjacent to and extendingalong said elongated section of said member and a non' magnetic body member for embedding said; magnet and said section to secure said magnet in a'fix d' p's tli oni i V 4. A magnet c clip as defined in claim 3 wherein the surface of said bo'dy nearest said article is substantially uniformly spacedfrom said article to receive supporting material. v 4 i References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

